Well students, sometimes in life things don’t always work the way you want to; that is what makes life interesting! This week we had some technical problems as the main server room got wet, wet, wet! Thankfully, there was no major damage to the school server. On the other hand, we were without a network or the Internet for almost 2 days, the 2 days when I have most of my grade 8 classes. In adition, this week is exam week, so those UNLUCKY students in 804, 805, 803 and 802 will have an additional week to get everything ready. I know how much you wanted to do your presentations this week…hehe.
I am experimenting with ivideo and youtube. Here is the first presentation I uploaded today. It’s taken me at least 30 minutes getting this video done, not including the transfer time from the camera. I don’t think I will have time to upload all the videos on youtube. We will see… I started with this one because it is a great one. You can see that this student knows what he is talking about and PRACTICED his presentation. Notice how he is actually TALKING to us, not just reading from his notes. It’s the first A++ I’ve given in 4 years.
Now that your outline is up on your blog, you should have also started your research. This week you will continue with the research and start writing the text for your speech.
You can use your box.net account to save your work.
remember: If you want to do a good job, you need to do some work at home!
Now that you’ve got your working outline ready, put it up on your blog.
Remember: Your outline CAN change as you do more reasearch! If you do change something in your outline, please leave a comment here with your name, number, class number and your blog address.
Points will be deducted (扣除,減除) if your presentation is different from your outline.
Go to the following website. Try to understand all the key points there. Also, look near the bottom. there is a section called Related Articles. Read one or two of these.
When you finish, post 5 important things you learned about doing presentations.
Your next post will be about your possible choices for a presentation. You’ll give 3 possible topics, in order that you prefer. Then after each one, write 1 (or 2) sentences about WHY you want to do that topic.
If you do this with a partner, make sure you put both your name and number ON THE SUBJECT LINE OF THE POST. Both team members should post the same choices, although your reasons WHY might be different or the same.
I will look at them and choose one by leaving a comment. I will try, as much as possible, to choose your number 1 choice.
A woman in India got the shock of her life last week when she accidentally gave birth to a baby while sitting on a toilet in a train. In India, the toilets have holes that go through to the train tracks. Guess what happened? You are right! The baby fell through and down onto the tracks. Miraculously, the baby was not hurt.
“She was on the rail track for almost 1 1/2 to two hours,” said Dr. Gautam Jain, a pediatrician at Rajasthan Hospital in Ahmadabad, in the western state of Gujarat, where the baby and mother were taken.
The child, who has not yet been named, was eight to 10 weeks premature and weighed only 3.22 pounds, Jain said. She had a low heart rate and body temperature.
I have a had just a few hobbies in my life, and none that I did for very long. Sometimes people say doing sports (swimming, basketball) are hobbies, but I dont think so. What about reading? Do you think it is a hobby? IF you say yes, then I have had that hobby for a long time!
I also did some paragliding a few years ago, but it was too expensive. And with the birth of my son, it was not practical. NOw I guess my hobby is going on long rides on my motorcycle. I sometimes go with a lot of other guys, sometimes by myself. It really is a great way to discover Taiwan!
When you blog, links are very important. We use them to show where we got something:
The weather in Taichung tonight will be cold, between 14 to 16 degrees.
Or when we want to write what someone else wrote we also use links to show where we got it:
The elections in Pakistan are underway. Who knows if they will be fair? According to a CNN report:
SLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) — One day after a pivotal vote that will determine Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s political viability, early returns on Tuesday showed gains for the opposition parties of former Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and the slain Benazir Bhutto.
We use them also to link to something we already wrote, but want to explain again:
Last year I posted a video on how not to do Powerpoint presentations. Please look at it when you have time.
ASSIGNMENT
Find a news article about something that interests you. It can be in English or Chinese. Write a short (50 words) description of the story and link back to the page where it came from.
Hello grade 8 students. It’s very cold! Welcome back from your holidays. Well, actually it’s pretty warm today, but when I wrote this post the first day back, it was cold–even for a Canadian like me! I hope you had a nice time and that you got lots of fat red envelopes.
Let’ get retarded started!
This year, you will be keeping an English blog at edublogs.org or eslblogs.org. This blog will be used for many things, like:
Thankfully, there was no major damage to the school server. On the other hand, we were without a network or the Internet for almost 2 days, the 2 days when I have most of my grade 8 classes. In adition, this week is exam week, so those UNLUCKY students in 804, 805, 803 and 802 will have an additional week to get everything ready. I know how much you wanted to do your presentations this week…hehe.
Your next post will be about your possible choices for a presentation. You’ll give 3 possible topics, in order that you prefer. Then after each one, write 1 (or 2) sentences about WHY you want to do that topic.
Hello grade 8 students. It’s very cold! Welcome back from your holidays. Well, actually it’s pretty warm today, but when I wrote this post the first day back, it was cold–even for a Canadian like me! I hope you had a nice time and that you got lots of fat red envelopes.
